Common Ground
by Ookami Aya
Summary: Cloud. Reno. Yuffie. What do these three have in common? Absolutely nothing, and that’s where our story begins.


Common Ground

Summary: Cloud. Reno. Yuffie. What do these three have in common? Absolutely nothing, and that's where our story begins.

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama/Humor

By: Ookami Aya

Disclaimer: I don't own it. It would not be very productive to sue me, seeing as my life's savings currently add up to about $10. Law suits will be laughed at.

* * *

Prologue

* * *

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. It wasn't going too well for her, and she knew there was no way she could win—not against him. His face showed no emotion, but she could tell he was quietly observing her reaction to the situation, almost waiting for her to concede, though they both knew she would not. Despite her opponent's intimidating gaze, Yuffie Kisaragi would not admit defeat, even if it killed her. 

_This is it,_ she thought to herself, biting her lip. _No turning back now. __This is the grand finale. My last huzzah. My death sentence. My tragic demise. _Yuffie let her face drift into an expression of determined resignation. _This is it, and I'm going out with a bang! _Her hand shot out...

The air hung with a tense stillness. Then her opponent, without so much as a smirk, almost lazily made his retaliation.

It was over. She had lost. Her fists shook violently as she somehow managed to whisper, "You won't get away with this."

"Checkmate," said Vincent.

Tifa glanced to them from her position at the bar. "Honestly, Yuffie, you act like it's the end of the world or something."

"Drama queen," muttered Cloud. Red, sitting on the floor by the table, sighed and shook his head.

Yuffie ignored them and stood up so quickly that everyone else in the bar winced at the scrape of the chair on the wood floor. She pointed a shaking finger at the stoic man before her. "Mark my words, I will beat you someday!"

Vincent barely blinked.

She dropped her arm and her shoulders fell as her voice shifted into a whine. "Why do you have to be so good at chess? _Why?_ It's not fair!" With that, she wandered over to a vacant table in the corner of the room to sulk.

Vincent stood up as well, albeit considerably more slowly. "...Does anyone wish to play, or shall I put it away?"

Yuffie broke out of her brooding to giggle. "That rhymed! Vinny, you're a poet!" She was ignored as various people around the room shook their heads and Vincent began to put the board and pieces back in their box. She went back to pouting when she realized this.

Red sighed again. "Vincent is indeed quite skilled at chess, but that's not the real issue here."

"Issue? There's an issue?"

"Yes. The fact is-"

"You really suck at chess, Yuffie," explained Cloud bluntly. Yuffie harrumphed.

"No. Well, yes. Not exactly." Red padded over to the young ninja. "After watching you lose so pathetically seven games straight over the course of a mere three hours, I have come to the conclusion that you need a lesson in strategy."

Yuffie, annoyed at his comment on her numerous defeats, yelled, "I'll lesson your strategy!"

Silence.

"Yuffie, that makes no sense," said Tifa gently.

"Shut up!"

Red shook his head again. "Regardless, from what I can tell, you act entirely without thinking."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I mean, we knew you were rash and stuff, but-" He was cut off as a shoe collided with his head.

"I am not rash!" A pause. "...Hey, can I have my shoe back?"

He picked it up and looked at it mock-thoughtfully. "I dunno. I mean, you _did_ kinda throw it at me, and all."

"Give it back!"

"Maybe if you apologized..."

"I'm sorry! Now give it back!"

"...Nah, I don't think I will."

"But you said you would!"

"I said maybe."

Yuffie growled. "You stupid spiky-headed jerk!" She ran over and attempted to grab it from him, but he just held it out of her reach, smirking all the while. Then he found he was no longer holding it.

Tifa, by climbing onto the bar a bit, had plucked it right out of his hand. "We'll give it back if you listen to what Nanaki has to say." Cloud grumbled at that, but otherwise didn't protest. Yuffie just sighed and looked at Nanaki, silently giving him her permission to speak, because he definitely needed it. He started to, but was, again, interrupted.

The shout was definitely masculine, though. "**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**"

All heads turned to Cid as he blinked wearily before passing out again on the bar.

Tifa sighed. "Someone should take him back to his hotel. Barret..?"

"An' a happy Labor Day," mumbled Barret. Tifa shook her head at him as he continued, "Y'know, wit' the... the... stuff... tha's purple. An' stuff."

"Honestly, Barret," Tifa scolded, "Cid does this every time we get together, but..."

"You don't usually get so smashed," finished Cloud.

"But iss a reason ta cele... celbera... suuuh... party!" he protested. "Y'know, wit' the Marlboro an' the Sehpiiiiiiih clone. They got together even wit', y'know, da stuff, on dis very day... fiiiiiiiive hun'red yers ago t'day... an tha's when the magic red dragon was born."

"**MERRY CRISTMAS!**" yelled Cid again, Barret nodding in agreement. Yuffie cracked up.

"Well, looks like we need a designated driver for those two, and I can't leave," said Tifa over the ninja's laughter, looking at Cloud pointedly.

He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm drunk. Sorta. A little." At her raised eyebrow, he promptly clunked his head on the bar. "Yeeeeeeessssshh, I'm druuuh... shometin'."

"Of course you are, Cloud. Anyone here that hasn't drunk anything?"

"I haven't, but it's a bit hard to drive with paws," said Nanaki.

Yuffie jumped up and down, waving her hand in the air. "Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! I didn't drink anything 'cause you wouldn't let me 'cause I'm underage!"

"You can't drive."

"I can learn!" Everyone, even the two more-or-less incapacitated men, shuddered at the mental image of Yuffie behind the wheel of a vehicle.

"...I'll go," said Vincent. Tifa smiled at him thankfully as he, with the help of a completely sober Cloud, carried/dragged Cid and Barret outside.

"Oh," Tifa called out after them, "and could you put Marlene to bed?"

"..."

She nodded as she heard the audible silence that marked his confirmation. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

Yuffie, meanwhile, surreptitiously slipped her shoe back on and followed. She didn't go unnoticed, though. "Yuffie," said the ever-observant Red XIII, "Where are you going?"

"Um... I'm... gonna help?" Neither Red nor Tifa believed her weak lie, but shrugged it off and let her go, Yuffie chuckling to herself in congratulation at her brilliant quick-thinking and acting skills. As soon as she was out the door, which was approximately two seconds later, she ran off in a random direction, laughing maniacally and shouting, "I'm free! I'm free! Muahahaha! Midgar, here I come!"

Cloud returned, job complete and Vincent on his way to the hotel. He was giving the doorway an odd look. "What was that all about?" There were two shrugs. After a moment, he added, "Hey, Red, weren't you going to talk to her about thinking ahead and not being rash?"

Nanaki blinked. "I was. That girl is sneakier than she sometimes seems."

"Cloud," requested a tired Tifa, "could you go after her? She's obviously up to no good."

He threw his arms in the air. "Why do I have to go? Why not Red?"

"Oh, my," said Nanaki, deliberately unconvincingly, "I seem to have suddenly become very tired. And probably drunk."

"But you didn't drink anything!"

"If I'm not drunk, Cloud, neither are you."

Tifa nodded cheerfully. "You can't get out of this one."

"Man. Fine, I'll go. Jeez. What am I, Tif, your errand boy?"

"Yup."

Cloud just rolled his eyes and left.

* * *

"Wee!" yelled Yuffie as she ran, having absolutely no idea where she was going. She didn't know where she was, either. Well, she knew where she was; she just didn't know where everything else was. The Great Materia Hunter Yuffie, Ninja Extraordinair, was never lost. 

She was completely not lost for about an hour without event.

---

-_One hour later... (It's time for a time lapse, people. Work with me here.)-_

_--- _

"Nope, definitely not lost," said The Great Materia Hunter Yuffie, Ninja Extraordinair. The new Midgar was even more confusing than the old one, but she wasn't confused, or anything. Not her. "Stupid Midgar. Probably got me lost on purpose. Not that I'm lost, of course And I'm not talking to myself, either. I'm talking to, uh, that dumpster over there!" She skipped merrily over to it and struck up a conversation. "Howdy, Mister Dumpster! How's life for ya?" The dumpster said nothing, so Yuffie commented on its rudeness and finally looked around.

...This was a section of old Midgar.

Or what remained of it after Meteor, at least. It had only been a year and a half since Sephiroth's defeat, so less than half the city had been renovated, but how had she gotten here? Well, she ran, obviously; but usually there was some sort of barricade with a warning, or something. Not just... this. It wasn't right. Everything seemed so... dead, but not quite inactive.

"This is where so many people died, Mister Dumpster," she said quietly, almost a whisper. "It's sad here. Everything is so sad. But that was more than a year ago. Why does everything seem so..." she trailed off, shook her head, and looked back at the dumpster, not wanting to see the eerie ghost-city anymore. "I can still feel them here. They're all dead, and they're still here. Why are they still here? Why don't they rest?"

"Maybe 'cause they can't move on," said a male voice behind her. She jumped and shrieked, and reflexively whirled around, striking out with the outside edge of her hand. The move was dodged, though, and she got a look at the man that had startled her; the man that had somehow managed to sneak up on a Ninja Extraordinair. Red, untamed hair, teal mako eyes, general scruffy appearance, nightstick... it was all there. She knew this man.

Yuffie dropped her fighting stance, as he wasn't threatening her and she had no real grudge against him. "What was that you were saying?" she asked. She didn't need to apologize to someone like him, though.

Reno shrugged and took a drag of his cigarette, not looking at her, but at the ghost-city now behind her. "I'm just sayin' they're probably not here by choice. I can feel 'em too, y'know." He grinned humorlessly. "I'm all too used to 'em—just so many, not even at Sector Seven."

She cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her. "Didn't Spike tell you about Sector Seven?"

"No- well, yes, he did, but I mean, what do you mean about them not being here by choice?"

He leaned sideways against a crumbling wall, eyes closed. "They were wronged, and they know it. They're dead, and they shouldn't me. They weren't supposed to die like that." He snubbed out the cigarette against the wall and tossed it over his shoulder. "Men, women, children... all gone, but they weren't ready to go. They feel like they should still be here, working, playing—it doesn't matter—just alive."

"So they can't leave yet."

"That's my guess, anyway." He opened his eyes and looked back at Yuffie, his usual smirk slipping into place. "So, brat, what are you doing here?"

"Don't call me that," she said automatically, though she was secretly glad he was beginning to act like his usual obnoxious self again. An obnoxious Reno, she could handle. It was familiar. But a serious, insightful Reno... that, she didn't know what to make of.

"Gonna answer my question anytime soon?"

"What? Oh. I dunno."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't know."

"Well, I was just kinda running around, so totally not lost, an' then I was talkin' to Mister Dumpster here but he didn't say anything an' I thought he was rude at first but now I think he's just kinda quiet or something, like Vinny, you know, and then I looked around and I'm all like 'Huh?' because I didn't know how I got here, I mean, I ran, yeah, but that's not the point and then I was talking to Mister Dumpster again and then you showed up and you so totally did _not_ startle me and then-"

"Okay, I know what happened after that," he said, holding up his hands. _Damn, that chick talks fast. Faster then Elena._

"Oh. Yeah."

"Why were you running in the first place?"

"Why do you care?" she asked in return, but didn't give him time to reply before answering. "Nanaki was gonna lecture me on thinking before I act, or something stupid like that. Said I'm rash. I'm so totally not rash. I _so_ look before I- hey! What's that?" Reno temporarily forgotten, she dashed over to something shiny in an otherwise inconspicuous pile of rubble. Reno looked briefly startled, but recovered quickly and followed as he saw the something shiny, as well.

It was small, but was still mostly covered, so they couldn't see it very well. Yuffie's hand shot out to pull it out, but Reno caught her wrist. "Don't touch it."

She reclaimed her appendage and pouted. "Why not? It might be materia."

He frowned and cautiously poked at the rubble on top of it with his nightstick. "That... is not materia."

"How do you know?"

"None of your business, brat."

"But you- hey! Why are _you_ here, anyway?"

"Again, none of your business."

"Tell me!"

Reno sighed and ceased in his poking for a moment. He could tell by here tone of voice that she would not let the subject drop. But how much could he tell her, and it still be enough to get her to leave him alone? _Not much_, he concluded. "A mission. Confidential."

"What's the mission, huh? Huh?" She was beginning to slightly bounce up and down excitedly.

"Do you understand the meaning of 'confidential' at all?"

"Yeah, but I don't care! Tell me!"

"If you're that curious, ask Reeve." _Go bug him instead of me_, he added silently.

"No!" she whined. "Then I'd have to go all the way to his office and his office is stuffy and I'd have to set up an appointment with his secretary and his secretary _hates_ me and I don't know why and I bet she's gonna hunt me down and kill me in my sleep or something and wear my skin as clothing and then I'd have to haunt her but she works for Reeve and that whole _building_ is stuffy so I'd have to hang out in the stupid stuffy building and I guess I could just float through the wall to Reeve's office but what if I catch him doing something really important or _naked_ or something I mean Reeve's a nice guy but I don't want to see him naked and if I was a ghost he wouldn't be able to see me so I couldn't talk to him and ask and even if he could hear me he'd probably freak out 'cause I think he's secretly afraid of ghosts but don't tell him I said that 'cause then he'd _never_ tell me _anything_ but he wouldn't tell me anything anyway if I was a ghost and freaked him out and he went crazy and went to the loony bin and they put him in a straitjacket even though they say they don't use them anymore and they put him in a padded room and everything and then he'd get better but they wouldn't believe him so he'd have to _chew_ his was out and by the time he got out he wouldn't have any teeth left so he'd have to be spoon-fed everything and that would be embarrassing and he would be even _more_ mad at me and tell me like_ negative_ information-"

"Okay, okay! Just shut up!" Yuffie obliged. "It's a mission, okay? We've been getting weird energy signals from around here and some weird reports, so he wanted me to check it out. Happy?"

"Yup!" she said cheerfully.

"_Yuffie!_" They both turned to see a certain spiky-haired swordsman half-running towards them. He stopped about a meter away and glared at Reno, hand automatically flying to the hilt of his oversized sword. "You," he almost growled.

"That's Reno," said Yuffie helpfully. Cloud gave her a brief, exasperated look that clearly said, "I _know_ that!" before glaring at Reno again.

He rolled his mako eyes in return, not even bothering to stand fully. "Chill, Spike. In case you hadn't noticed, we're not exactly locked in mortal combat here."

"Then what _are_ you doing?"

Reno was about to make a sarcastic retort that didn't actually answer the question when Yuffie answered for him. "Oh, we were gonna play with this shiny thing here."

"No, we are _not_," corrected Reno not-quite patiently, once again having to pull her hand away. He turned to Cloud. "I'm just investigating something-"

"This materia here!"

"Brat, I already told you: that's not materia. And for the last time, don't touch it!" Again, he yanked her hand away, this time none-too-gently. "Anyway, I'm just investigating something for Reeve. I don't know why she's here," he said, nodding his head in Yuffie's direction.

"Looking at the ma-"

"_It's not materia!_"

Cloud raised an eyebrow as Yuffie snickered, obviously enjoying herself. "How long has she been here?"

"Too long," Reno grumbled.

"If I didn't dislike you so much, I would probably pity you."

"So," said Yuffie, "what's this materia do?"

Reno sighed, now able to tell that she was just trying to annoy him "I don't know. I don't even know what it is. Do you ever shut up?"

"No," said Cloud. Yuffie pouted and Cloud stepped forward, apparently planning to take her back to the hotel with the others. "Come on, Yuff- what?"

The other two looked to see why he had interrupted himself and quickly found out: a red orb of materia was floating away from its usual place on his sword, glowing, but not quite in the way that it did when in use. Yuffie yelped as a similar orb floated away from her Conformer, and Reno soon found himself short one summon, as well.

Bahamut. Neo Bahamut. Bahamut ZERO.

The three watched as their summons floated to just above the "shiny thing" and stop, hovering there for a moment.

There wasn't a flash of light.

It just... changed.


End file.
